22 > lysTixcT : 



follows : — (1) They are always perf«:»nned by individaals 

 of tLe saioe sptcies in nearly, if not in exactly, the same 

 niamier. >2 Xo experience or education is required in 

 order that the different Yolnntary efforts requisite for these 

 actions may follow one another \rith unerriog precision. 

 (3) They are occasionally seen to be performed under cir- 

 eiunstances which the onlooker (ha\ing regard to the ends 

 usually accomrlisbed by the acts) recognizes as rendering 

 them nugat'irv. 



In illustration of the first and second peculiarities, the 

 following quotation from Bichat may be cited. He said : 

 •*If we examine different animals at the moment of 

 birth; vre siiill s^e :hi: the special instiDct of each directs 

 the execu:: : " r moTements. Young quadrupeds 



seek the __ ::_ :lieir mothers, birds of the order 



Gallinaceae seize i_:- :ely the grata which is their 

 appropriate nourisL: ' the youno^ of the carnivor- 



ous birds merely c^ _ :_ _ iiiouths to receive the food 

 which their parents bring to their nests." 



The third peculiarity exemplifies the 'blindness of 

 Instinct,' and may be illustrated bj the fact that Blow-flies 

 often deposit their eggs on a plant (Chenopodium fcetida) 

 whose odour resembles decaying meat, though it is quite 

 unsuitable as a nidus for such eggs ; or by the fact that 

 the Bee gathers and stores up honey even in a climate 

 where there is no winter ; by the fact that a Hen will con- 

 tinue to sit on a pebble which has been put in the place 

 of an egof, and that she shows the same kind of solicitude 

 for ducklings that have been hatched under her as she 

 would for chickens produced from her own eggs. 



Some powers and instincts (a) are connate: that is, 

 the animals are capable of manifesting them almost 

 immediately after birth, and without the occurrence of 



